Walter Schalka joined Suzano in 2013 and is currently Chief Executive Officer of the company. He began his career at Citibank and later joined the holding company of the Maepar Group. In 1989, he joined Dixie Lalekla, and later became CEO after the merger that created the Dixie Toga Group. In 2005, he joined the Votorantim Group as CEO of Votorantim Cimentos.

In 2023, Schalka was elected Person of the Year by Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he was elected Value Executive for the seventh time by Valor Economico newspaper and CEO of the Year in Latin America, for the eighth time, by Fastmarkets RISI, a consulting organization specialized in the paper and pulp industry.

Schalka holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) and a graduate degree in Business Administration from the Getulio Vargas Foundation of Sao Paulo (FGV-SP). He also participated in executive programs at IMD (Switzerland) and Harvard University (USA).

David Rennie is Geopolitics Editor and columnist of The Economist. He is co-host of the Drum Tower podcast on China.
He joined The Economist in 2007. From 2007-10 he was the EU correspondent and “Charlemagne” columnist, based in Brussels. From 2010-12 he was British political editor and “Bagehot” columnist, in London.
In the summer of 2012 he moved to Washington DC. He was “Lexington” columnist 2012-17, and Washington bureau chief 2013-18. From 2018 to September 2024 he was Beijing bureau chief and “Chaguan” columnist.
Previously, he was on the foreign staff of the Daily Telegraph, with postings in Sydney, Beijing, Washington DC and Brussels.
He won the 2010 UACES/Thomson Reuters “Reporting Europe” award. The Asia Society awarded the 2023 Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia to David Rennie and Sue-Lin Wong for their coverage of China. David Rennie is a contributing panelist on “1A”, NPR’s daily news talk programme, based at WAMU in Washington DC.

The educational background of Mr. Beck is businessman and forest engineer. He has been working for the Mercer International Group in various functions since 2005, and since 2016 as Managing Director of Mercer Holz GmbH, which is responsible for raw material purchasing and logistics for the two German pulp mills Mercer Stendal and Mercer Rosenthal and the German sawmill Mercer Timber Products, which belong to the Mercer Int. Group. Also since 2016 Mr. Beck has been Managing Director of the joint venture "wood2M" with Mondi. This joint venture steers the import and logistics activities of the pulp mills of both groups throughout Europe.

Dr. Peter Holmgren is a senior forestry and development professional with over twenty years of international experience with inter-governmental processes and organizations including as Director of Climate Change at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN based in Rome and Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research, an international organization headquartered in Indonesia. He is engaged in the international dialogue on sustainable development, forestry, conservation, agriculture, food systems, landscapes and climate change; having worked with governments, private sector, science community and civil society at the highest levels. Current activities include senior advice to corporations and industry federations in the forest-based sector with a focus on business and investment strategies in relation to sustainable development and climate change. Dr. Holmgren is from Sweden.

Daniel Nordigården is an Associate Partner with McKinsey & Company based in Detroit, MI. He serves clients globally, focused exclusively on the paper and packaging industry. Daniel has deep expertise across packaging substrates, end uses, and regions as well as extensive experience in strategy, operations, sustainability, and private equity. He also co-lead McKinsey’s global work around “Packaging 2030” and sustainability in packaging.

Tom is the Managing Director of Hawkins Wright. Over the past 25 years he has undertaken regular private client consultancy assignments on a wide range of topics related to the pulp and paper sector. He is the co-author of the Outlook for Market Pulp and Pulpwatch and is the principal author of the Asian multi-client studies. Foremost amongst these; Defining the China Market for Pulp Paper & Board was first published in 2002 and enjoys industry-wide recognition. Tom has also helped to establish two major events in the industry calendar; London Symposium in association with the BWPA, and Shanghai Pulp Week in association with CPICC. Tom travels widely, both in the course of market research and also as a frequent speaker to private meetings and industry conferences.

Oliver is a seasoned industry analyst and consultant, boasting over two decades of expertise in the global pulp and paper sector. Since joining Hawkins Wright in 2007, he has played a pivotal role as one of the editors of Pulpwatch, the firm's monthly newsletter. He is also the co-author of the Outlook for Market Pulp service and the principal author of the Outlook for Dissolving Pulp. His leadership in consultancy projects spans feasibility studies for pulp mills across Latin America, Russia, and Southeast Asia, and he is a frequent presenter at industry conferences.

Pierre joined Hawkins Wright in 2014 and has been providing research and editorial support to the Pulp & Paper team. He is lead author of our multi-client publications Pulpwatch and The Outlook for Fluff Pulp, and also makes regular contributions to The Outlook for Market Pulp and Forest Energy Monitor reports.
Pierre was previously employed as an analyst at Société Générale in Paris where he tracked the performance of structured products and undertook risk analyses.
He is a graduate of the American University of Paris where he studied Economics, Entrepreneurship and International Law.